The plot thickens

[cleolinda]

Okay, so: my mother and stepfather went to the bank to deal with the random people in Georgia who wrote checks on their account. The bank people were actually apologetic, although I'm not sure why, because it's not like they did it--maybe my mother's icy righteous anger is like Cloverfield, in that you can hear it coming from three blocks away, and when it gets there everyone dies. (Speaking of which, a comment from the previous entry that made me laugh out loud, from syneblue: "I have to say, after Sonic and Sears, I'm kinda looking forward to the story of how your mom blew up a bank and Wal-Mart and possibly Ohio with THE POWER OF HER MIND.") Anyway, the bank is giving us back the money, since she has the actual check she wrote with the same number (for a hell of a lot less money), and she's clearly not in Georgia right now.

(Before I go any further, people asked how she found out what happened, so I asked her, and she reminded me that she calls the bank everyday to see which checks of hers have cleared. You know, the automated service. Well, today, the service was all like, "Check. Number. 743. For. SIX HUNDRED AND NINETY-NINE DOLLARS," and she was all JIGGA WHAT?, and here we are now.)

So, anyway, she just called me with an update--I had made a couple of comments on the previous entry asserting (as I hoped at the time) that it was probably a machine/clerk error, but... no. It totally wasn't. ANOTHER check for $690, this time at Home Depot, went through. Or rather, it tried to go through, because I think my mother only had about $300 in checking at the time (and the Wal-Mart scam check had already bounced on that), because she gets paid at the end of the week. And while we're here, can I just ask: why are these people spending just a shade under $700 each time? Is it like, you know, stealing < $700 is within their moral compass, but > $700 is just beyond the pale? And what the hell are they buying at Wal-Mart and Home Depot for that kind of money (but no more than that kind of money)? Small electronics? The entire Garanimals apparel collection? A really big bag of fertilizer? Anyway, apparently they--the bank? Home Depot? Someone?--were able to come up with the check itself this time, and it did have Mom's account number on it (that is, it wasn't a mistake), and it had a "very common name" with a driver's license number (probably fake) on it as well. The check itself wasn't hers; it had been "washed" and then redone (reprinted? I don't know exactly).

Fortunately, our money has been returned and we're off the hook for any further scammed checks. Unfortunately, my parents are going to have to get a new bank account, which sucks particularly because it's the end of the month and my mother had sent out checks to pay bills, plus their paychecks and my stepfather's pension are coming in. Fortunately, our bank is awesome, and they've agreed to keep the compromised account open to incoming funds, but close it to debits, checks and withdrawals; they've also agreed to let Mom list the checks she just sent out and clear those if they match up with the information she gives them (number, amount, payee) and only then, and not if, you know, Scammer McJackass decides to stock up on $695 worth of Grapette at Sam's. Also, if s/he feels like depositing some money, we are totally open to that eventuality. Right.

So what happened? Apparently the two scam checks have the same numbers, in sequence, as checks my mother wrote very recently. My first advice was, "Invest in a shredder for future bank statements," but my mother pointed out that any cashier could have written the account number down. But she was really spooked about the check numbers matching, until I realized out that duh, they could have also written the check number down as well. Like, if she used check #742 at the grocery store, Genius McJackass could write down the account number and check number and then hand them over to (let's say) her brother Scammer to use in Georgia. Except that, you know... we're kind of going to notice that someone who isn't us is writing checks for giant amounts of money. Like... what? They think we're just going to go, "Oh, I guess I forgot about that trip to Home Depot one state over that I made last month"? Also, I think they weren't counting on my mother's Awesome Powers of Money Management to bust them immediately. I'm still not sure why the bank is being so deeply awesome about this--I mean, they're going to double-check the bills she paid and everything! They're calling our Publix about the check that may now bounce because of Scammer!--except that... well, my mother, ladies and gentlemen.

So that's where things stand now: massive inconvenience, but largely, we escape unscathed. As far as catching the McJackass family goes, obviously, the first place to look is that last pre-scam check she wrote--whoever she paid with check #742 is about to receive a visit from the Long Arm of My Mother the Law. FEAR.

Comments

[robyn-ma.livejournal.com]

In cases like this, a portable Gerald comes in handy:

'This Woman Clearly Did Not Write That Check. Do You Not See That?'

bank troubles

[joshuad369.livejournal.com]

Sometimes banks can be pretty awesome. Thats why the one bank I go to saved my bacon AND got overdraft charges that i wasn't expecting reversed. They pretty much own my soul now.

Still suck that some douch bag would do that to your mom. May her fiery wrath smote them down!!!

[reynardine.livejournal.com]

Glad the bank is being reasonable about the whole thing.

BTW, TCM (Turner Classic Movies) on cable is showing Quo Vadis (http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=933) tomorrow evening (Thursday, May 1st) at 7 pm central. IIRC, you only got to watch part of it the last time it was on? It's well worth seeing the whole thing, if you've got the time.

[chocotaku.livejournal.com]

Re: bank troubles

[evilbearhunter.livejournal.com]

At first I thought that said "gave me bacon" and I was jealous. I mean, your bank sounds cool, but not as cool as a bacon-giving bank.

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

If there's any positive spin from this, it's that vigilance on the personal finance front is not being neurotic, it's being careful. Thank holy Cow she spotted this when she did and raised entirely-deserved overture-worthy hell over some punks doing their best to con her and hers out of her money.

A tip of the hat to her.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

*snerf*

[emisi.livejournal.com]

Has your mom mailed out any bills lately? Because the scammers often steal the checks from your mailbox when the flag is up and then wash them.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, let this stand as a warning to others: ALWAYS keep your mind on your money and your money on your mind.

[edda.livejournal.com]

BWAHAHA!

With all due respect and then some to Cleo's mom, natch. But maybe the Cloverfield creature was having the same problem, and JJ Abrams just left that out.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, she mailed out a ton--that's a good point. Except that the mailboxes on our street don't have flags (they're these brick things, and we're on a cul-de-sac). But the point still stands.

[adarraliselle.livejournal.com]

Someone stole my check card number a bit back. The bank thinks it was either a waitress or someone who raided my purse while I was getting my hair cut (is nothing sacred?!). Anyway, this person distributed my number to people in a couple of different states. They made copies of my card and proceeded to try to buy up Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. My bank noticed that buying TV's in four different states simultaneously was outside my spending pattern, and they cut off all access to my account. The bank was quite awesome, actually. I wasn't responsible for the charges. I was slightly alarmed at how close they monitor my spending patterns, though. Sounds like your Mom is way better than electronic monitoring.

[chocotaku.livejournal.com]

But who could possibly be that laid back?

[claddagh812.livejournal.com]

Holy crap. I'm so glad this was caught early and that your bank is being so cooperative, unlike one here I know about that had to be threatened with legal action when a family friend's account was compromised. Good on your bank, and good on your mom for being so vigilant.

[nc-bookworm.livejournal.com]

I wish I could rent out Gerald. I want him to put the fear of God into PayFlex.

Re: bank troubles

[nc-bookworm.livejournal.com]

Oh a bank that gave me bacon would have my love forever.

[jackieocean.livejournal.com]

My mom and I worry about that happening around here, so whenever we have anything in the way of a bill or important mail we always drop it in a blue post office box instead of leaving it out in our mailbox.

[nc-bookworm.livejournal.com]

You can invest with a key operated mailbox. Or just mail bills at the post office. Because a lot of thieves troll neighborhoods for bills being mailed.

[nc-bookworm.livejournal.com]

Which bank? Because I want to give them my business now.

Re: bank troubles

[joshuad369.livejournal.com]

Mmmm bacon banks....I can see them now

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

My mother was informed a few months back that there was suspicious activity in regards to her bank account, so they informed her and told her they'd be sending her a new card in the mail, just like that.

I hope your mom rains hellfire on whoever is responsible.

[undying-rose17.livejournal.com]

Not that this is a funny situation (I've had it happen to me twice before and it sucks having to get all new everythings and being unable to access anything in the meantime), but the stupidity of the people who do this to think that someone's not going to notice ~$700 missing from their bank account is just...wow.

When it happened to me, I was in between jobs and so only had about $30 in my bank account, so they notified me right away when the guy tried to write a cheque for $400. In Florida. While I live in Massachusetts. It just...the logic of it (or illogic, rather) confounds me, because unless someone is super-super-rich, they're going to notice if someone far away tries to take more than, say, $10 from their bank account. And I find that depressingly funny, that these sorts of criminals are that dumb.

[maetang.livejournal.com]

I'm glad your bank are being so helpful.

Maybe they can feel the potential WRATH OF YOUR MOTHER percolating in the background, and are wisely staving off her AWESOME FURY by pre-emptively co-operating. I pity the FOOL of a fraudster who has yet to TASTE HER WRATH! *shakeyfist at scammers*

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

Ah, the Dance of the Scammers, trying to keep their scam amounts below a certain amount. They may have thought $700 was the amount that would've triggered the bank's suspicion. My co-workers and I at my former job, a fraud detection and prevention department, would see that for much smaller amounts (we handled adding minutes to long-distance calling cards). Fraud activity also would be spread out over several accounts to try and make the fraud less obvious, like the one we found for someone claiming their name was "Junea U. Alaska." Stuff like that.

Good on your mom for being vigilant. I check several times a week, myself, though the time I got scammed, it was over Super Bowl Weekend '07, when I didn't check until my bank e-mailed me with notice about the suspicious activity.

And I just want to say that this entry and thread have made laugh out loud multiple times. Your sense of humor is formidable and worthy. Like the Righteous Wrath of Mom.

[maliekai.livejournal.com]

The random thought floating through my head at all this is surprise that your mother still uses checks. Because they're so easy to scam. Like, at stores. Is that a U.S. thing? Most places up here don't even take personal checks anymore.